Workshop summary: detection, impact, and control of specific pathogens in animal resource facilities

Despite advances, infectious diseases remain a threat to animal facilities, continue to affect animal health, and serve as potential confounders of experimental research. A workshop entitled Detection, Impact, and Control of Specific Pathogens in Animal Resource Facilities was sponsored by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and National Institutes of Aging (NIA) and held April 23-24, 2009, at the Lister Hill Conference Center on the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Bethesda campus. The meeting brought together laboratory animal scientists and veterinarians with experience in fish, rodent, and nonhuman primate models to identify common issues and problems. Session speakers addressed (1) common practices and current knowledge of these species, (2) new technologies in the diagnosis of infectious diseases, (3) impact of environmental quality on infectious disease, (4) normal microbial flora in health and disease, (5) genetics and infectious disease, and (6) specific infectious agents and their impact on research. Attendees discussed current challenges and future needs, highlighting the importance of education and training, the funding of critical infrastructure and resource research, and the need for improved communication of disease risks and integration of these risks with strategic planning. NIH and NCRR have a strong record of supporting resource initiatives that have helped address many of these issues and recent efforts have focused on the building of consortium activities among such programs. This manuscript summarizes the presentations and conclusions of participants at the meeting; abstracts and a full conference report are available online (www.ncrr.nih.gov).